Time Period: Begins 1838 In 1838, Nellie Starr, a young Cherokee girl, is caught in the political upheaval of America's westward expansion. Forced by U.S. soldiers to leave their home in Tennessee, Nellie, her family, and thousands of other Cherokees travel the long, dangerous "Trail of Tears" to a new home in the Indian Territory of modern-day Oklahoma. Using actual historical events as a backdrop, this brand-new children's novel teaches lessons of American history and the Christian faith. Can Nellie learn to forgive the people who've turned her world upside down? Nellie the Brave is a compelling read for girls ages eight to twelve.

Deeply bonded to her three older brothers and in awe of her father's experiences as a Holocaust survivor, young Ruby is shocked when her eldest brother is abruptly taken away to a hospital, where he changes into a person she barely recognizes. 35,000 first printing.

"This Treasure-Trove of Stephen Dodson Ramseur's candid and thoughtful letters to his family, friends, and wife lays bare the innermost thoughts and emotions of a young Southerner devoted to securing the Confederacy's independence. It is destined to take a prominent plasce among the classics of primary Civil War literature." GORDON C. RHEA, author of in the Footsteps of Grant and Lee. "Stephen Dodson Ramseur well represented that class of aggressive young generals to whom Robert E. Lee entrusted his Army of Northern Virginia in battle. These letters effectively recapture the life and character of an educated and articulate Southerner who remained both convinced of the rightness of his cause and truly devoted to his family and friends until he fell in battle at Cedar Creek in October 1864." CAROL REARDON, author of Pickett's Charge in History and Memory

Nellie Y. McKay (1930–2006) was a pivotal figure in contemporary American letters. The author of several books, McKay is best known for coediting the canon-making with Henry Louis Gates Jr., which helped secure a place for the scholarly study of Black writing that had been ignored by white academia. However, there is more to McKay's life and legacy than her literary scholarship. After her passing, new details about McKay's life emerged, surprising everyone who knew her. Why did McKay choose to hide so many details of her past? Shanna Greene Benjamin examines McKay's path through the professoriate to learn about the strategies, sacrifices, and successes of contemporary Black women in the American academy. Benjamin shows that McKay's secrecy was a necessary tactic that a Black, working-class woman had to employ to succeed in the white-dominated space of the American English department. Using extensive archives and personal correspondence, Benjamin brings together McKay’s private life and public work to expand how we think about Black literary history and the place of Black women in American culture.

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra finds refuge from his difficult childhood by imagining the adventures of a brave but clumsy knight. This fictionalized first-person biography in verse of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra follows the early years of the child who grows up to pen Don Quixote, the first modern novel. The son of a vagabond barber-surgeon, Miguel looks to his own imagination for an escape from his family's troubles and finds comfort in his colorful daydreams. At a time when access to books is limited and imaginative books are considered evil, Miguel is inspired by storytellers and wandering actors who perform during festivals. He longs to tell stories of his own. When Miguel is nineteen, four of his poems are published, launching the career of one of the greatest writers in the Spanish language. Award-winning author Margarita Engle's distinctive picture book depiction of the childhood of the father of the modern novel, told in a series of free verse poems, is enhanced by Raúl Colón's stunning illustrations. Back matter includes a note from both the author and illustrator as well as additional information on Cervantes and his novel Don Quixote.

Documents the 1889 competition between feminist journalist Nellie Bly and Cosmopolitan reporter Elizabeth Bishop to beat Jules Verne's record and each other in a round-the-globe race, offering insight into their respective daunting challenges as recorded in their reports sent back home. 50,000 first printing.

Told through preserved family diaries, Crossing the Continental Divide joins two major 19th century American themes the moral consequences of chattel slavery and the cultural consequences of settlers going west. In 1853, newly widowed Ethan Fall leaves Oxford, England, sailing with his two young daughters to Charleston, South Carolina, to begin their new life. When they arrive, Ethan unexpectedly becomes responsible for Sensible Rose, a sixteen-year-old girl of mixed racial parentage. In an effort to remove his daughters and Rose as far away as possible from the South's "peculiar institution," the four join a wagon train following the Oregon Trail. As they travel, Crossing the Continental Divide tells the story of their complex and changing relationships, set against the dangers of slavery coupled to the dangers of westward migration.